Roller shades include a flexible shade fabric wound onto a roller tube. The roller tube is rotatably supported so the shade can be raised and lowered by rotating the roller tube.
Shade fabrics are secured to roller tubes in a variety of ways. It is known to secure a shade fabric to a roller tube by stapling an end of the shade fabric to the tube. It is also known to secure a shade fabric to a roller tube by gluing or taping the end of the shade fabric to the tube.
It is also known to secure a shade fabric to a roller tube using a spline that is attached to the shade fabric, such as by welding the spline to the fabric. The attached spline is then inserted, endwise, into a retainer slot defined by the roller tube. It is also known to use elastic splines forced into a retainer slot over a shade fabric to secure the shade fabric to the roller tube.
Engagement of a shade fabric to a roller tube by conventional techniques does not facilitate adjustment of the shade fabric. This is particularly true with respect to gluing and stapling because relative movement between the shade fabric and roller tube is limited upon engagement of the glue or staple. Gluing and stapling of a shade fabric may also result in undesirable marring of the shade fabric.